Being a Leader is Like Being a Teacher

Remember the book written by a person who said that everything he needed to learn he learned in kindergarten? Well, he was right! Why? Because every teacher is a leader in his or her own right. And so, to become a good leader, you have to know how to be a good teacher.

Here are the tips to becoming a true leader through the mind of a teacher:

Learn first what you need to teach or pass on to your people

No teacher can give something he or she does not have. It is a basic law of Nature and life. A tree cannot give fruits unless it makes them. And the tree, in turn, cannot give unless the soil gives the necessary nutrients the tree needs. At the same time, the soil will not give anything unless it got its nutrients from animals and from rocks and rivers that provide minerals. All of Nature and life works because someone or something gave first.

What does a leader give to those under him or her? Find them out and then give them.

Teaching is more fun for students when the teacher is also having fun

We all hated terror teachers and avoided them like the plague. In fact, we had nightmares because of them. So with managers or bosses who terrorize employees? If you want to be an effective leader, be a friend first and make people comfortable with your presence and your personality. Everybody loves a winner. Ad if you can win the friendship of people, you can gain their confidence and their trust. And people love to work with someone who takes everything in stride – that is, when the going gets tough, you would want the leader to be around to guide you. It was always comforting to have a teacher who could answer your questions, whether stupid questions or clever ones.

A firm teacher need not be a feared teacher

This is related to the previous one; however, it has the added idea of making people realize that at times the leader has to set the bar high on certain issues – such as breaking office policies or rules that could lead to the disruption of organizational or social harmony. When moral issues arise, in particular, the leader who imposes rigid compliance to integrity or decency will have a better chance of instilling discipline and stability to the ship than one who wavers or dilly-dallies.

We always loved our teachers in elementary school who were firm but loving and strict but kind to us all in spite of our misbehavior. A true leader knows when to be flexible and when to expect compliance.

Meir Ezraand his company, Guaranteed Prosperity, conduct seminars to train people to become effective leaders. Check out their website today.